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July 29, 2017

Brexit: Labour must refocus on the Tory catastrophes

Pressure is mounting on the Labour Party frontbench to refocus on opposing Brexit. Ganging up on Party Leader Jeremy Corbyn is not likely to help deliver a positive result. There is a more pressing imperative - the Tories. It is Labour's job in opposition to wrong-foot the Tories and force a fresh General Election as quickly as possible. There has been an unnecessarily prolonged period of Labour front-bench Brexit-babbling which left Remainers like me frustrated and baffled. Why should Labour want to side with the hardliners in UKIP and the Conservative Party?

Corbyn's mistake following the EU referendum result was to fail to recognise the Brexit project was doomed from the outset and respond accordingly. Many Labour 'worthies' criticised his alleged lukewarm role in the campaign. As a democratic socialist, I thought he judged the mood of the electorate extraordinarily well. He was not prepared to brush issues with the way the EU has developed and its institutions have evolved under the carpet. However, dreams of socialism in one country have no place in a 21st century democratic socialist party in Western Europe.

Labour euro-scepticism played a vital role in enabling Labour to make remarkable gains in the snap general election called by Tory Prime Minister Theresa May for 8 June just passed. The manifesto may have helped. But the section on Brexit was written entirely from a prospective governmental standpoint. While Labour denied the Tories an overall majority, the Tories are still in government. That is why Labour must reshape its thinking. Excessive weight is being placed by the Labour leadership on the 'will of the British people'. It is not the majority view and never was that the UK should leave the European Union - that is a UKIP fiction embraced by both May and, sadly, Corbyn. Corbyn needs a fresh narrative to question the Tories far more rigorously.

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Brexit: Labour must refocus on the Tory catastrophes

Pressure is mounting on the Labour Party frontbench to refocus on opposing Brexit. Ganging up on Party Leader Jeremy Corbyn is not likely to help deliver a positive result. There is a more pressing imperative - the Tories. It is Labour's job in opposition to wrong-foot the Tories and force a fresh General Election as quickly as possible. There has been an unnecessarily prolonged period of Labour front-bench Brexit-babbling which left Remainers like me frustrated and baffled. Why should Labour want to side with the hardliners in UKIP and the Conservative Party?

Corbyn's mistake following the EU referendum result was to fail to recognise the Brexit project was doomed from the outset and respond accordingly. Many Labour 'worthies' criticised his alleged lukewarm role in the campaign. As a democratic socialist, I thought he judged the mood of the electorate extraordinarily well. He was not prepared to brush issues with the way the EU has developed and its institutions have evolved under the carpet. However, dreams of socialism in one country have no place in a 21st century democratic socialist party in Western Europe.

Labour euro-scepticism played a vital role in enabling Labour to make remarkable gains in the snap general election called by Tory Prime Minister Theresa May for 8 June just passed. The manifesto may have helped. But the section on Brexit was written entirely from a prospective governmental standpoint. While Labour denied the Tories an overall majority, the Tories are still in government. That is why Labour must reshape its thinking. Excessive weight is being placed by the Labour leadership on the 'will of the British people'. It is not the majority view and never was that the UK should leave the European Union - that is a UKIP fiction embraced by both May and, sadly, Corbyn. Corbyn needs a fresh narrative to question the Tories far more rigorously.